Adjustable sound-post for stringed instruments.



No.s73,949. mman may I4, 190|.

. .1. A. souLn. ADJUSTABLE SUUID POST FUR STBINGED INSTRUMENTS. (Applicntiu'n led Kom-30, 1900.) (lo lodelJ' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE."

JOHN A. COULD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES E. FARLEY, OF EVERETT, MASSACHUSETTS.

ADJUSTABLE. SOUND- POST FOR STRINGED lNSTRUMENTS./.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 673,949, dated May 14, 1901.

Application ined November 30,1900. sesamo. 38,080. (Nomads.)

T rl/ZZ whom, t may concern;

Be it known that I, JOHN A. GOULD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Sound-'Posts for String Instruments, of which the following is aspecication. i

Y It is Well known to those skilled in the manufacture and use of stringed i nstru ments, more especially the violin, cello, and bass viol, that the position and length of the sound-post of said instrument is a very delicate and important matter and that any change in position or length immediately affects, and to a very appreciable degree, the quality of the tone of the instrument. A change in the'position' of the sound-post of yfrom one to two millimeters will make a decided dierencein the tone of the instrument. If thesound-post be made' one-halt' millimeter longer, itren'ders the tone comparatively sharper and thinner. If the sound-post be approached nearer the bridge in a violin, the tone becomes clearer and more vacute. If moved more toward the center of the instrument, the G-string sounds clearer and firmer; but the E-string, on the other hand, grows slacker and softer. It will thus be seen that any variation, however slight, in length or position of the sound-post will make a decided dierence in the quality of the tone of said instrument and for the reason that by either of said changes the strain upon either the belly or back of the violin, cello, or bass work, requiring skill and oftentimes necessitating the expenditure of a large amount of time before the desired result is obtained.y

The same remarks apply to the difficulty or" obtaining a sound-post of the correct length.

The object of this' invention is to produce a sound-post which shall obviate these didiculties, which shall be simple, light, and durable in construction, easily applied to an instrument without any danger of injuring the same, and capable of being readily adjusted to produce in the instrument to which it is applied the best quality of tone which said instrument is capable of producing.

The invention consists in a sound-post for Vstringed instruments in two parts, said parts connected together and one of rsaid parts having mechanism fast thereto adapted topositively force said parts away from -each other.

The invention further consists in the coinbination and arrangement of parts set forth in the following specification and particularly pointed out in the claims thereof.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a violin oit' the usual conf struction with my improved sound-post applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a transverse section takenon line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isa perspective View of my improved sound-post. Fig. 4 is a central longitudinal vsection thereof. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a modified form of sound-post. Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 6 6, Fig. '5. Fig. 7 is a central longitudinal section of another modiied form-ot' sound-` Y post. n

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings. l

In the drawings, 10 is the belly,y 11 the back, 12 the bridge, 13 the bass-bar, and -14 the f-hole, of a violin of the usual construction.

15 is a sound-post constructed in accordance with the most approved form of my invention, consisting of a cylindrical post 16, adapted to bear against the belly of the violin, and another cylindrical post 17, adapted to bear against the back of the violin, the two joined together by a spring-arm 21, integral with both of said posts. the post 17 is slotted at 18 to receive a camlever 19, pivoted upon a pin 20 fast to said post 17.

The cam-lever 19 bears against the lower end of the post 16, and as the said lever is depressed from the position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 4, to the position shown in full.

lines therein the post 16 Will move upwardly from the position shown in dotted lines to that shown in full lines in said figure, and thus the distance between the two ends of The upper end of Ioo l the post 15 may be increased or diminished at will, according to thevpositionin which thefcam-lever 19 is placed. The post 15 and the camslever 19 are preferablymade entirely of wood, and the cam-lever 19 is made to fit closely in the slot 18, so that said cam-leverwill remain stationary in any position in which it may be placed.

In placing my improved sound-post 'in position the post is cut off about the right length and placed in the violin in the usual position-- namely, under the outer edge of the E-string foot of the bridge and nearer the tailpiece of the violin thanthe bridge thereof by about two and one-half millimetersl Thepost 15is placed with the handle of the cam-lever 19 pointing toward the nearestf-hole, Fig. 2.` yThe handle of the lever is then lowered orv postmay be adjusted in different ways without departing from, the spirit of my inven-y tion, and in Figs. r5 and 6 I haveillustrated a modification in which the upper part of the spring-post is joined tothe lower part by two lspring-arms22, the cam-lever 23 being operated in the same manner as the cam-1ever 19. y

In Fig. 7 `I have illustrated another manner of varying,V the length ,of the sound-post, in vwhich thev upper fpart 24v of the post .25is turned down at 26` vtoit in -av hole of corresponding diameter bored in the lower part 27-v of saidpost. The cam-lever 28 is pivoted at 29 in a slot '30 to vthe lower, part 27 of said sound-'post 25.' -Thelower end of the portion 26 of the upper part24 bears against the kcam- Alever 28, and'when said leveris raised or lowered the cam-surface thereon raises and lowersA the part 24, and thus varies the length of said sound-post.

fpost for string instruments, having an upper While I have illustrated anddesoribed my improved sound-post as particularly adapted to a violin, it is evident that the same may be applied to any string instrument wherein l a difference in the tension upon the frame and sounding-board produces a variation in the quality of the tone of the instrumentsuch as,- for instance, the cellobass viol, and piano. 1 f

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire by Letters Patent to secure, is- A 1. As an articley of manufacture, a soundpost for string instruments, havingy an upper part and a -lowerpart, a spring-arm connect-l ingsaidl upper and lower parts, and meansl for forcing, said parts away from each other against the action of vsaid spring-arm.

2. As an article` of manufacture, a soundpart and a lower part, a spring-armconnecting said upper and'lower parts,and a camlever pivoted to one' of' said parts and adapted to force said parts away from each other against the action of said Yspring-arm.

post for,- string instruments, 4having an upper part, a lower part, said upper; part and -lower part'conn'ected togetherand a cam-lever pivoted to'one'of said partsan'd adapted to force said partsaway froln'each other.

4'. As an article'of manufacture, a soundpost for string instruments,'having an upper part,r a lower part,'said upper part andlower part connected together, Vand mechanism-fast 8o tov one ogsaid Vparts adapted to positively` force saidparts awayfrom each other.

In testimony whereof'l have hereunto set my 'hand in presence of, two subscribing witv, uess'es. 'i Y y v vJOKHNA1..GQULD- Witnesses: CHARLES S. GOODING, .L oUIs- A. J oNEs.

Y 7o. -3. As an article of manufacture, a soundj 1 

